Through the Years - Year Two
by Money Stax
Summary: The story of Mike Snowe and twenty-three other students at Saffron Trainer's School starts again in the second year. After an unforgettable first year, the young students continue on the road to becoming skilled trainers and responsible adults. However, each year gets more challenging than the last and the obstacles have begun piling up. Will the trainers and Pokemon succeed?
1. The Big News

**A/N: This is a sequel to _Through the Years: Year One_. You don't have to read that one, but it will help you understand this story a little better. Enjoy!**

* * *

**The Big News**

"_Where are they?! Where are they?! Where are they?!"_

Mike Snowe rummaged frantically through his closet, throwing clothes, comic books, and other miscellaneous items onto his bedroom floor. The mop-haired teenager smiled in satisfaction as he finally found what he was looking for, a pair of large white gloves. Mike slid one of the gloves onto his right hand and pressed the barely noticeable button located on the top of it. Tiny bubbles began to shoot out of the glove at a rapid pace and soon filled the entire room.

"Yes!" Mike shouted. "They still work!"

He took the glove off and placed it beside the other one on his bed. It was that time of year again. School was starting in two weeks and Mike had to get ready to fulfill his duties as the mascot, Polly the Poliwhirl. He remembered how he was not too thrilled when he first became the mascot, but over the course of the previous year, he had grown to enjoy it. Becoming Polly the Poliwhirl was the first step that led to a fantastic first year at Saffron Trainer's School. It was during that year that he had greatly improved his gymnastic skills as well as his skills as a trainer. He had taken on the second year bullies, Craig Kelton and Johnny Hawkins, and battled well enough to earn their respect for the time being. On top of all that, Mike had even managed to get a girlfriend in longtime best friend, Relena Serene. It was certainly a year that he would never forget.

"_Waaaaaar!"_

The sound of Wartortle's cry alerted Mike to what was going on in the backyard. He peered out of his window and saw Wartortle struggling to flip over the old tire that was placed under the tree. Crobat was flying around with Elekid on her back and both seemed to be enjoying themselves. Wartortle was the only one who was almost always serious even in the most pleasant of situations. Mike made his way out of his room, down the stairs, and out of the back door. He approached Wartortle and patted him on the head.

"I can get a smaller tire if you want me to," Mike told the stubborn turtle.

Wartortle furiously shook his head and with a deep breath and straining muscles, he succeeded in flipping the tire over. He raised his fists in victory and unleashed a torrent of water from his mouth.

"_Waaaar!" _

"Nice!" Mike exclaimed as he raised his hand. "High-five!"

Wartortle turned around and used his tail to slap his trainer's hand. Elekid had jumped off of Crobat and into the tree house while she perched herself on a branch. Summer was almost over and Mike knew that he and his Pokémon needed to have as much fun as they could.

"_I assume you've completed your summer reading..."_

Mike walked over to the fence to see his teacher and new next door neighbor, Mr. Slowking, tending to his garden. He and his brother had moved in over the summer and Mike definitely enjoyed their company as he was not a huge fan of his last neighbor. The fact that Mr. Slowking was a talking Pokémon also had an effect on the boy's opinion of him.

"Hey, Mr. Slowking," Mike greeted. "Where's Slowbro?"

"_Trying to catch up on all the television shows that he missed before school starts_," Mr. Slowking explained. "_Are you excited to begin your second year?"_

"I'm not too thrilled about summer being over..." Mike said. "But there are definitely some things I'm looking forward to like seeing all of my friends again, not having Craig there bothering me everyday, and kicking butt as the top mascot in Saffron City."

Mike was so busy talking to Mr. Slowking that he had not noticed the gate to the backyard opening and a short girl with blonde hair sneaking inside. Slowly, she approached the boy, urging his Pokémon to stay silent as she did. Once she was close enough, the girl tackled Mike with enough force to send him to the ground. However, she was not expecting him to actually be able to fight her off as she tried to pin him down. He flipped himself over on top of the girl and pinned her down, grinning as he stared into her widened blue eyes.

"When did you get so strong?!" Relena said in amazement.

"That's the power of Polly the Poliwhirl seeping into my veins," Mike answered as he helped his girlfriend to her feet. He knew that spending the summer training had made him stronger, but Relena would still win in an actual fight. "So, what's up, I thought you weren't going to be back until tomorrow?"

"I convinced my parents to come back a day earlier," Relena told him. "There were certain people that I was missing way too much."

"Like who?" Mike replied with a grin.

"Like Ellie," Relena said. "And Drake and Esther."

Mike arched an eyebrow. "No one else?"

"Oh yeah," Relena said. "I even miss that idiot, Loki."

She gave Mike a playful grin and ran her hand through his long, brown hair. Relena's family had gone on a trip to Kalos a few weeks after school had ended, so she had barely got to spend any time with him after they had become a couple. They had talked over the phone as much as possible, but it was nothing compared to actually seeing each other.

"Are you ready for school?" Mike asked her.

"I won't have to deal with Felicity for a whole year," Relena answered. "I'm looking forward to that for sure, but school's still a couple of weeks away, so how about we not focus on it."

Mike glanced over to see that Mr. Slowking had returned to tending his garden and his Pokémon were still playing amongst themselves. Relena also noticed that the attention was not focused on them at the moment and gave her boyfriend a mischievous smile as they moved closer. The first kiss was innocent, remnant of the one they had shared at the school dance before summer, as was the second one. However, the third kiss made Mike's chest jump. It lasted much longer than the ones before it and at that moment there was no better feeling in the world than Relena's lips on his. She proved to be the bolder of the two as she suddenly stuck out her tongue.

"_Hey, I think that's enough of that..."_

Mike quickly broke the kiss and almost fell back onto the grass. His older sister, Julie, strolled onto the yard with Ampharos by her side. The nineteen-year old woman had the same olive skin and hazel as her brother and long, sleek, dark hair. Despite growing a bit over the summer, Julie still towered over Mike.

"You didn't tell me your sister was still here," Relena said in a bothered tone.

"Good to see you too, Relena," Julie remarked. "Aren't you just as sweet as ever?"

"Very funny..." Relena growled. She turned to Mike. "I'd better be going anyway. I still need to see Ellie and Drake before I go home. I'll call you in a bit."

Mike watched her walk out of the gate and close it behind her. He frowned at his older sister and she grinned at him before messing with his hair.

"Honestly," she started. "You need a haircut, little bro. I didn't know which one was the girl. And don't give me that look. As many times as you've popped in my room when I've had someone over."

"I have no memories of that!" Mike said slyly. "What do you want anyway? Isn't time for you to head back for Goldenrod?"

"Not for a few more days," Julie answered. "Just so you know, I didn't come out here just to stop you from making out with your little girlfriend...even though I do kind of think that you guys are too young. Mom and Dad have some important news that they want to share with us. Bring your Pokémon inside too."

Mike arched an eyebrow in curiosity. It had to be extremely important for their parents to want the Pokémon involved. Ampharos led Elekid and Crobat inside, but Wartortle remained at his small training course.

"Wartortle, let's go," Mike told him.

"That one's close to evolving," Julie stated as she watched Wartortle attack the tree. "I can tell by the look in his eyes. I give him about a year, maybe even less. I hope you know how to handle a powerful Blastoise or you're going to have a terror on your hands."

She made her way back inside and Mike pondered on her words for a few seconds before Wartortle appeared in front of him. Mike could see the intensity in Wartortle's eyes and knew what Julie said had to be true. He had heard stories of fully evolved Pokémon not obeying their trainers due to lack of respect, but had shrugged it off after Golbat evolved into Crobat and still listened to him. Mike realized that Crobat and Wartortle were two different Pokémon and even if she followed his commands in her final stage, there was no telling what Wartortle would do after evolving. His mind shifted to Elekid. Even though the young Pokémon was a long way from being an Electivire, Mike knew that it was something that he would possibly have to deal with later.

"Let's go inside..." he said, gently rubbing Wartortle's head.

Mike and Wartortle walked into the living room to see his sister and the other Pokémon situated in various parts of the living room. His parents were standing in the center of the room and Mike wondered what the occasion was. He and Wartortle stood by the open window and listened to his parents speak.

"Now that you're all here," their mother began. "We have some exciting news to share."

"What, did I make the cover of _Mascot Monthly_?" Mike joked.

"No, but I hear that _Goofball Century _might be featuring you soon," his father replied with a grin.

Mrs. Snowe let out a laugh. "I'm sure both of those magazines would be honored to have Michael in them. Anyway, this concerns the whole family, Pokémon included! Julie, Michael, I hope you two are excited because your father and I have just found out that you are going to have a new brother or sister soon!"

"_WHAAAAAT?!"_

The two siblings shouted the same word, but it came out of their mouths in two completely different ways. Julie's was excitable whereas Mike's was complete and utter disbelief. He did not even know how to react as he watched his sister hug their parents in joy. The Pokémon joined in the celebration, leaving Mike standing in confusion alongside Wartortle.

"H-how did this happen?" Mike said.

"You'll find out soon enough if you're taking Health this year," Julie answered.

"No," he flustered. "I mean, I know _how_ it happened...and it's too gross to even think about, but you guys are having a baby? I'm happy for you and all, but it's just so weird."

Mike scratched his head as he tried to think. He could not think of anything too negative about having a younger sibling. On the other side of the coin, there were quite a few positives. His mother would spend her time with the baby instead of smothering him, Julie wouldn't bother him as much, and he wouldn't be considered the 'baby' anymore at family reunions. It would definitely be nice to have a younger brother to teach pranks to as well as everything about being a Pokémon trainer."

"You know what," Mike told his family. "This might be a good thing after all. Bring on the new baby!"

* * *

**A/N: And just like that the second year is off with a bang thanks to the big news. How will this affect Mike down the line? Stay tuned to find out. **

**The only P.O.V. in this chapter was Mike Snowe. **

**Important Information: In this story, ALL odd-numbered chapters will have P.O.V.s for the younger kids while ALL even-numbered chapters will have P.O.V.s for the older kids. This will help the story flow a little bit smoother than the first one. **

**Other than that, come to my forum to hang out or look for more information about any of my stories. Happy Holidays!**

**Until next time! **


	2. The Boys Are In

**The Boys Are In**

Tyler West had planned on spending the rest of the day training his Pokémon. The new school year was rapidly approaching and it was time to get prepared for the battling team. His parents were having dinner at a new co-worker's home, leaving him by himself as usual. Before he could put his plans in motion, he was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

"West!" he heard a voice call out. "Open up!"

Tyler knew that voice, but he had to open the door to actually believe it. Standing at his door was a tall and lanky boy with dark skin and light brown eyes. The look on his face suggested that he was annoyed to be standing outside too long.

"Johnny..." Tyler greeted cordially.

"In the flesh," Johnny replied. "Pretty nice house you got here. Anyway, come on, let's go."

Tyler arched an eyebrow. Even though he and Johnny Hawkins were both on the battling team and were on much better terms than they had been at the start of the previous year, they weren't exactly close. However, Tyler was not particularly close to anyone, so he did not have any real issues with Johnny.

"Where exactly are we going?" he asked.

"_Big Bidoof's_," Johnny explained. "Craig wants all the guys to meet up there. He said he wants to talk about something important before school starts. Nat, Xander, and even that clown Lyndon are going to be there. Plus, he's paying for everything."

While Tyler had money of his own and didn't need Craig to pay for his meal, he was dreadfully hungry and he had to admit to himself that he was slightly interested in what Craig wanted to talk about. He had also made a goal to be more social since there were more students in the upper school which meant he would have more teammates that he would be forced to interact with.

"Lead the way..." he told Johnny.

The walk to the restaurant had been spent in silence at least on Tyler's part. Johnny had spent the entire time on the phone with his girlfriend and had almost been hit by a car when they crossed the street. When they had finally made it to _Big Bidoof's Burgers_, Johnny hung up the phone before leading them inside. The restaurant was a typical burger joint with a giant Bidoof as its mascot. Most of the food itself was unsurprisingly covered in grease, though Tyler had heard that their salads were nutritious.

"Hey, I think I see Nat and Xander," Johnny said. "Come on."

Nathaniel St. James and Xander Hamilton were also on the battling team with Tyler and Johnny. The two friends were as different as night and day with Nat being cool and calm while Xander was fiery and expressive. Johnny approached them and gave each a high-five while Tyler stood back, unsure of how to greet them.

"Good to see you guys," Xander stated with a grin. The blond boy offered a hand to Tyler and he shook it. "How was your summer, West?"

"Decent..." Tyler answered truthfully.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Xander told him. "But this really isn't the place, so I'll wait until school starts."

Nat pushed his shaggy black hair out of his glassy blue eyes and frowned. "What's taking Craig so long? Figures that he'd want us to wait all day for him. Johnny, do you know what's up?"

"Me and Craig haven't really been in touch all summer," Johnny replied. "The last time we talked was when he called me the day after school had ended. And that was only to brag about hooking up with Felicity even though I'm almost certain that she didn't want him to go off and tell everyone. Of course, I told him that he might as well have slept with a Seviper since that's basically the same thing as what he did."

Xander burst into laughter and even Nat let out a few snickers. As nasty as Felicity Cole was personally, Tyler did not think that she should be made the butt of a joke when she wasn't around to defend herself. Before the conversation could continue, the boys noticed that there were quite a few people in the restaurant watching something outside. Tyler approached the window and saw a young man with black hair and green eyes riding a unicycle into the parking lot. He seemed to be doing a decent job until he hit a speed bump and promptly flew off of the unicycle. The boy did not seem to be injured and scraped himself off before entering the restaurant.

"Guys!" Lyndon Tower greeted and walked over to the table.

"Lyndon, what the hell were you riding?" Xander asked.

"It's called a unicycle, genius," Lyndon said. "Lizzy taught me how to ride it. I haven't exactly perfected it yet. So, where's Craig?"

"You tell us," Nat said. "Me and Xander have been here for almost forty-five minutes. I'm about ready to-"

He was cut off by the sound of a horn and the sound of metal sliding across the lot. Tyler returned to the window to see a black sports car and Lyndon's now ruined unicycle. The door on the driver's side opened and Craig Kelton stepped out. However, he looked a bit different than he had previously appeared. His shaggy brown hair had been dyed black, he had put on some muscle, and he seemed to have grown an inch or two. A thin girl with bleached blonde hair and watery blue eyes stepped out of the passenger's seat. She was clearly a year or two older than Craig. Nevertheless, she gave him a passionate kiss before making her way to the driver's side of the car and speeding off.

"My unicycle!" Lyndon exclaimed as Craig entered.

"Whoops..." Craig deadpanned.

"Maybe you should get your license first before you start driving," Lyndon told him. "That way, you won't accidentally run over people's unicycles."

"Who said it was an accident?" Craig replied with a grin. "Anyway, I'm surprised you even made it here, Lyndon. You know, being McKinley's slave and all, I'd figure she'd make you spend all day making posters to save the Wailord."

The mention of Amelie McKinley made Tyler drift off into his thoughts as Craig and Lyndon argued. They had spent a brief time together during the summer and while Amelie had been kind and friendly, everything still confused Tyler and it was almost impossible for him to guess what level of friendship he and her were on. As she had spent the rest of the summer volunteering at shelters around Kanto, they had little contact.

"Is that your new girl?" Xander asked Craig.

"No," Craig scoffed. "She just has a nice car that she let me drive. Why should I stick with one girl anyway? It's okay though. I know it's hard for you virgins to understand. Anyway, thanks to Sid, I hooked up with two more girls over the summer and after doing some work for him, I have enough money to buy a car when I get my license in a few months which means more girls. I've been training like a bitch too and my Pokémon are top notch."

"How top notch?" Johnny asked. "You do remember how Mascot Boy and that Ace kid almost beat us at the end of last year, right?"

Craig smirked and locked eyes with Tyler. "If you guys don't believe me, I can always give you a demonstration."

"You want to battle me?" Tyler questioned.

"Right now in the parking lot," Craig told him.

Tyler nodded his head and followed Craig outside. Truth be told, it was the most excited he had been all day. While he did not show it outwardly, Tyler was especially fond of battles and going against a strong opponent like Craig Kelton made things even better. Johnny and the others had followed them out and Lyndon had decided to be the referee.

"Alright guys!" he began. "Tyler West versus Craig Kelton. Each side will use one Pokémon each. First one down loses. Begin!"

Tyler had sent out his Flaaffy and Craig responded by sending out his Nidorino. As Tyler had suspected, Craig had not been bluffing. One look into the Nidorino's eyes told him that the Pokémon had been training hard and had vastly improved.

"Double Kick!" Craig commanded.

Nidorino sped towards Mina and jumped into the air.

"Take Down," Tyler quickly countered.

Mina jumped up and slammed into Nidorino before he could bring his feet down. Both Pokémon fell back a bit, but Nidorino quickly returned to his feet. Tyler saw a smirk on Craig's face and once he looked at Mina, he knew why. The electric sheep's face had turned a sickly purple and it was obvious Nidorino's poison point ability had kicked in.

"Looks like everything went according to plan," Craig remarked. "You walked right into it."

"An honest mistake," Tyler admitted. "We'll just have to wrap this up quickly. Mina, Cotton Spore."

"_Flaaaaa!"_

Despite being poisoned, she managed to attack before Nidorino could react. The white cotton balls stuck to Nidorino like glue as thrashed around.

"Nidorino, hurry up and try to get them off!" Craig told him.

"_Niiido_!"

"Electro Ball," Tyler commanded.

With Nidorino's speed lowered by the cotton balls, Tyler knew that the Electro Ball would be much more powerful. Mina sent the large orb of electricity directly at Nidorino. The attack collided with the poison Pokémon and he let out a cry of pain before falling to the ground. He seemed to be out and Lyndon prepared to name the victor until they saw Nidorino slowly but surely standing back up.

"Run at that truck over there and back!" Craig ordered as he pointed to the left. "But try not to hit it."

Nidorino obeyed his trainer without question, but everyone else stared at him in confusion. When he returned, Craig had him do it two more times and for a moment, Tyler was sure that he had lost his mind. It was only when he hard Mina crying out in pain that he realized what Craig was doing.

"_Flaaa_..."

"The poison!" Tyler uttered, his teal eyes widened as she fell to one knee.

"Double Kick!" Craig shouted.

This time the attack landed and it had only taken one kick to knock Mina out. Lyndon declared Craig the victor and Tyler stood in disbelief. He had defeated Johnny, Nat, and Xander in the past, but had lost to someone who wasn't even on the battling team. He was not upset however as it had been a great battle and Craig had proved that he could back up his words. He walked up to Tyler and reached inside his pocket.

"Berries?" Tyler said as Craig retrieved a small plastic bag.

"Pecha to be exact," Craig replied as he handed the bag to Tyler. "Nidorino poisons Pokémon so often that I've started carrying them around."

Tyler fed the berry to Mina and thanked her for her excellent performance before recalling her to her poké ball. Craig did the same with Nidorino and quickly led the other boys back inside. Tyler stood outside for a moment, deep in thought as usual. It would be a stretch to say that he liked Craig Kelton, but he definitely had some respect for him. He made his way back inside where the other boys were congratulating Craig at their table.

"I tell you every year that you should try out for the battling team!" Johnny said.

"My grades aren't good enough," Craig stated. "And the uniforms are stupid. The only plus is that you get to be around all those cheerleaders."

"Not to rain on the parade," Nat interjected as their glasses of soda were brought to the table. "But why did you want us all to meet up here?"

Craig grabbed his drink and stood up. "In a week or so, we're going to be in the upper school. That means there's going to be new kids from all over Saffron and we need to stick together if we want to survive. By next year, you guys will be getting your licenses and we'll be running the show. Girls, parties, battling, the whole nine yards! We'll be on top of the world. Who's with me?"

"You know I am!" Johnny answered immediately.

"Count me in!" Xander exclaimed.

"If you're serious, Craig..." Nat stated. "Then I'm in too."

"Time for me to step out," Lyndon said. "I'm with you."

Craig smiled and nodded his head and suddenly all eyes were on Tyler. He figured that the best thing to do at the moment was to just go along with everyone else. He simply nodded his head and everyone raised their glasses for a toast.

"Alright!" Craig shouted. "The boys are in!"

* * *

**A/N: Well, it looks like the boys are in. Though it's easier to just go along with everyone in the heat of the moment. We'll definitely have to see how this turns out. The only way to do that is to stay tuned.**

**The only P.O.V. in this chapter was Tyler West.**

**As this was an even-numbered chapter, this one focused on the older kids. Next chapter is an odd-numbered one, so it'll focus on the younger kids. **

**First update of the new year! Anyway, as always, you can PM me if you have any questions or come to the forum to check out more information on this story or any of my other ones. Or if you just want to hang out and chat, that's always acceptable. **

**Until next time!**


	3. Competition and Mystery

**Competition and Mystery**

It was always the hottest right at noon and having to walk all the way to school made things even worse for Loki Del Grove. However, Esther had not complained about the heat, so Loki decided to tough things out. It was Friday, the last Friday before school started and Loki was surprised to find himself happy that school was beginning again. He could not wait for the battling games, the girls, and the pranks to start. The only bad part about school was the classes, but Loki knew that he could always deal with them if he had his friends with him.

"I hate school so much..." Esther suddenly said while staring at the ground.

"C'mon, Esther," Loki replied. "Sure, the classes suck, but everything else is pretty sweet." He turned to Quagsire and Charmeleon, who were following them close behind. "Right, guys?"

The two Pokémon nodded in agreement, but Esther just shook her head.

"It's different for you," she said. "Even if you hate your classes at least you're not going to be in special ed."

Loki averted his gaze and ran a hand through his dark hair. He and Esther Moore had become best friends due to the fact that they lived next door to one another, but that wasn't the only reason. Until last year, both of them had always been among the worst students in terms of grades. Loki could not recall how either of them had managed to pass every year at the Beginner's Academy, but they had. The only reason Loki's grades had improved in the last year was because he had begged Ellie and Elyse for help so he could stay on the battling team. Once the season was over, he returned to slacking off and doing the minimum. That was the difference between him and Esther though. Whereas Loki was just lazy, Esther actually tried her hardest and still had bad grades.

"It's only for like two classes on Wednesdays and Fridays," Loki told her. "The rest of the time, you'll be with us."

"I still think we should have waited until Monday to get our class schedules," Esther said. "I don't want to see the school building until I'm forced to."

"Well..." Loki started. "That sucks because we're here..."

Two copper-colored buildings stood, one much larger than the other, connected by a concrete sidewalk. The smaller building was their destination and Loki was amazed at how less imposing it appeared compared to the previous year. He chalked it up to a sense of familiarity. Last year, they had been scared first years, but now they were second years and had nothing to be nervous about, at least not until next year.

"Ugh..." Esther sighed.

"That's the spirit. Now, let's-"

"_Stop right there, Del Grove..."_

The voice came from the sidewalk that led to the upper school. Approaching them was a tall man dressed in a dark suit with sunglasses on. He had short dark hair and was clean-shaven, but the most notable thing about him was the fact that he had an earpiece inside of his left ear.

"Vice-principal Glass..." Loki greeted with a mischievous grin.

"Cut the act..." Glass said, his deep voice carrying along the path. "I'm just letting you know that I'm not going to tolerate any of your shenanigans this year. One thing and you'll be drowning in detentions. I'm going to tell the same thing to Snowe and Hicks when I see them. Any questions?"

"Just one," Loki replied. "Is there actually anyone on the other end of that earpiece you always wear or do you keep it just to look cool?"

"That's it, Del Grove," Glass told him. "Report to detention."

Loki grinned. "School's not in yet, sir. You couldn't give me detention right now even if I poured mustard down your pants. And the spicy mustard too."

"Say what you want now," Glass snarled. "But you won't be so cheeky when Monday comes."

He headed off and Loki couldn't help but laugh loudly. Glass took his job entirely too seriously and acted more like he was a secret agent than a vice-principal. Still, getting on his nerves was worth the punishment in Loki's eyes. Charmeleon and Quagsire stood outside as Loki and Esther made their way inside of the building and towards the main hall where they saw a few kids in line in front of Mr. Slowking's table. They took their place and patiently waited for their turn.

"_Next_?"

"Mr. Slowking!" Loki greeted. "How have you been?!"

"_Loki, you saw me a few hours ago when you where at Micheal's house, remember?_"

"Oh yeah," Loki replied. "Where's Slowbro?"

"_At home_," Mr. Slowking said with a sigh. "_He wanted to finish his marathon of Pokémon Beach before Monday. __Anyway, here are your schedules."_

He handed the students their information and Loki quickly scanned his before folding it up and placing it in his back pocket. He noticed the other tables down the hall that students were crowding and wondered what they were doing.

"Say, Mr. Slowking, what's going on down there?" he asked curiously.

"_Just sign up for clubs and other extracurricular activities_," he explained. "_Feel free to check it out._"

Loki left Mr. Slowking and Esther to converse and walked down the hall to the other

tables. The only club that had somewhat interest him was the breeder's club. He signed up for it and continued on. At the end of the tables was a sign up sheet posted on the wall.

"Run for student body president..." Loki read the sign aloud. "Sign up here..."

The thought of being student body president excited him. As far as he knew, being president meant that he could make the cafeteria change pizza day from every other Tuesday to every single day and have the water fountains replaced with chocolate fountains. A world with everyday pizza and chocolate fountains was definitely a perfect world in Loki's eyes. Grabbing the pen off of the end table, Loki prepared to sign his name onto the sheet, only to accidentally knock his hand into another one.

"What the..."

Standing in front of the sign up sheet was his battling partner, Elyse McKinley. Her dark blonde hair was tied into a high, tight ponytail, and the heat of the summer made her slightly tanned skin stand out even more. As always though, it was her bright blue eyes that made her one of the prettiest girls in the year as well as one of the scariest.

"Oh, what's up, Elyse?" Loki greeted.

"Nothing much..." Elyse replied cordially. "Are you...?"

"_It's like CPR. CPR. CPR."_

Loki recognized the voice and the song. Elyse's best friend, Lilly Acres approached them, obviously preoccupied by the earphones that were playing music through her ears. The sandy blonde greeted Loki with a smile and a wave before removing the earphones.

"So, where's the third angel?" Loki asked them. "You know, Never-Shut-Up Nadine or Motor Mouth Mills, whatever they're calling her nowadays."

"She's been spending almost all her time with your buddy, Drake," Lilly answered. "I can call her if you want."

"Um, how about we don't-"

"Too late," Lilly interrupted with a smile. She had already dialed Nadine's number and within seconds Loki could hear the girl yelling into the phone.

"_Lilly! Did you guys make it?! Did you get your schedules?! Huh?! Huh?! Huh?! Where's Elyse?! I borrowed her white pants! Hope she doesn't mind!"_

"Loki's here," Lilly said. "He wants to speak to you."

Lilly handed Loki the phone and he let out a sigh before preparing to speak to his friend. Of course, before he could even begin to talk, Nadine had begun going on and on.

"Loki! Long time, no see! What did you do this summer?! Where's Esther?! I hope you've been training a lot this summer! My Pokémon are much stronger! Do you know that I tried to cook for them this morning and burnt the biscuits this?! I hope you're a better cook than I am, Loki. You'll need it if you're taking Home Ec this year! Oops, Drake is beeping in! I'll call you guys back! Later!"

She hung up and Loki quickly handed the phone back to Lilly. Nadine was a great friend, but he always felt like he needed something to drink after he finished listening to her talk as fast as she did. Esther had joined them and Loki remembered why he was there in the first place.

"Loki, are you sure you're at the right spot?" Elyse asked him.

"Yep," Loki replied. "I'm going to be student body president. Wait, is that why you're over here?"

"Uh...yeah," Elyse said. "My sister's been president before so I figure that it's about my turn. Are you...sure you want to do this, Loki? Just running takes a lot of hard work and-"

"Yeah, yeah," Loki finished. "All that stuff is going to be a piece of cake. When I'm the president, it's going to be pizza day every day!"

Elyse arched an eyebrow. "Loki, you do know that the student body president has like zero power over things like that or anything really. It's not like you see on TV. They just organize dances and it looks good when you apply to college. And like I said, running for president takes a lot of hard work and brains. I'm not sure if you'll be able to handle it."

"You're saying I'm not smart enough to do it?" Loki questioned, a frown forming on his face.

"No, it's not like that-"

"Yes it is," Loki interrupted. "That's exactly what you meant because if you didn't, you wouldn't have added that 'and brains' part at the end. I guess it's not enough that you're super hot, have some of the highest grades in our year, and is one of the best battlers on the team. You just have to have everything don't you? It's always been like that ever since we were little!"

The look of hurt on Elyse's face was very brief, but it did not go by unnoticed. Loki knew that he might have been too harsh and that his outburst was unwarranted, but he was not going to be intimidated into backing down. Doing that would just prove that Elyse was better than him like she had always been.

"Listen," Elyse told him sternly. "We've been friends for years, but you're out of your mind if you think I'm going to let you talk to me like that. If you want to run for student body president, Loki, I'm not going to stop you. If you want to run against me then just do it."

"I will," he said. "And I'm going to crush you."

Elyse shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we'll see."

"I...think we should go," Lilly said.

Elyse nodded her head and she quickly put her name on the sheet before she and Lilly walked towards the exit. Loki let out a sigh and signed his name under hers. He glanced at Esther and she did not appear to have the same confused expression on her face that she usually had. Instead, it was a slight scowl and the look in her light brown eyes immediately let Loki know that she did not approve of what he had said to Elyse.

"Oh, come on," Loki told her. "You of all people should be on my side. She basically said that I was too dumb to run against her."

Esther shook her head. "Let's just go home..."

* * *

"_Damn it, Drake, pay attention!"_

Ellie Morris didn't usually yell or swear but video games were the one thing that bonded their whole group together and she didn't take calmly to interference especially since they were playing in her room. She and Drake had teamed up against Mike and Relena in _Hyper Beam Oblivion. _Ellie's Abra and Relena's Vulpix were watching with interest while Mike's Elekid and Drake's Gible fought over a can of spray cheese.

"Cut it out guys," Mike told them without looking away from the screen. "Oh! We just beamed you guys into oblivion again!"

"Take that!" Relena shouted.

Losing to Mike and Relena wouldn't be as annoying if they didn't kiss after every win. Minus the kissing part, they basically acted the exact same way as before they were dating and as far as Ellie knew, they didn't seem to be having any problems as of yet. Ellie turned to Drake and if there was one thing he was not good at, it was multitasking. He was trying to converse with Nadine over the phone and play the game at the same time.

"So what's the deal?" he said.

"The deal is that we keep losing because of you," Ellie snapped.

"Oh, sorry," Drake said to Ellie. "I was actually talking to Nadine. Why are you on my case anyway? You didn't say anything to Mike when Loki called him."

"That's because Mike isn't on my team," Ellie reminded him.

Drake let out a sigh. "Nadine, I'll call you back." He hung up the phone and selected Gyarados to be the Pokémon that he played with. "What did Loki want anyway?"

"He said he's running for student body president or something like that," Mike answered. "And then he said something about pizza day and chocolate fountains. I swear, he never makes any sense."

"And you do?" Relena stated as she lightly thumped her boyfriend on the head. "So, Drake, what's with you and Nadine? Are you two going out with that motor mouth?"

"That's what I was trying to see," Drake answered. "But Ellie made me get off the phone. Good thing she did though, because now I can totally murder you guys in this game."

"We'll see about that!" Mike said.

They played several more rounds. Ellie and Drake managed to get a few wins in, but Mike and Relena stayed ahead due to Drake's earlier distractions. They eventually got tired of _Hyper Beam Oblivion_ and decided to play another game. Before they could continue, the sound of a phone going off interrupted them.

"Just answer it, Drake..." Ellie told him.

"That's not mine," he informed her. "That ring tone is way too lame for me to be caught using."

"Ellie, I think that's your lame ring tone," Relena stated.

"Hey," Mike said. "Chill out about Ellie's ring tone. It's not her fault that it's lame."

"Thank you, Mike," Ellie remarked sarcastically. "My oldest and dearest friend..."

She went to answer her phone, but the moment she accepted the call, the other line disconnected. She thought of calling the number back, but she knew there would be no answer. Ellie threw the phone at the bed and missed Drake's head by an inch.

"What the hell, Ellie?!" Drake yelled. "It's just a ring tone! Did I make you that mad that you had to throw your phone at me?"

"I'm sorry," she told him. "Listen, I know I've been kind of stressed all day, but something's been going on."

"Like what?" Mike asked.

"I'll tell you guys," Ellie said. "But you have to keep it between us. Got it?"

"Got it!" the three of them said in unison.

Ellie took a deep breath. "It started at the beginning of the summer. I started getting these phone calls. The first call asked me if my name was Eleanor Morris and when I said yes, they hung up. From then on whenever I got the calls, they were all from different numbers and whenever I answered, they hung up. It didn't happen as much first, so I just guessed that someone was pulling a prank on me. Now, though, they're happening like twice a week."

"Stalker!" the boys said simultaneously.

"Gross!" Relena remarked. "Ellie, call the cops before this gets out of hand. At least tell your dad and let him handle it."

Ellie nodded. "If it starts getting too out of hand, I'll tell him, but it really could just be a prankster. Anyway, enough with the spooky stories. It's the last Friday before school starts, so we need to play as many games as we can. I'm thinking we should start with some _Magikarp Mash_!"

* * *

**A/N: Well, things are now really starting to get off the ground. Competition among friends and mysteries looming about. We're definitely going to have to see where things go from here. **

**The P.O.V.s in this chapter were: Loki Del Grove and Ellie Morris.**

**This was an odd-numbered chapter focusing on the younger kids, so the next chapter will be an even one focusing on the older kids. Also, we're BACK in school next chapter AND we'll be returning to the standard four P.O.V.s per chapter, so that means it's going to be much longer. So if you guys like longer chapters then we'll be good!**

**Notes: As always feel free to come by and check out the forum. There's an upcoming story of mine called _Subdued Illumination_, so check out the forum or my profile if you want to submit an OC for that one or another fic. Or if you just want to talk about this story or even just hang out and chat that's perfectly fine.**

**Until next time! **


End file.
